Young lions

(Photo: AP )

The long-awaited tournament of the best teams of the Old World, held for the first time through the efforts of two neighboring states, has begun. After 20 days of fights on the fields of Belgium and Holland, we will find out who will be the last in this century to gain the proud title of European champion.

No favorite
Perhaps the most remarkable feature of the championship is the incredible difficulty of forecasting. Yes, the majority - from specialists to bookmakers - bet on the Dutch hosts (who, by the way, in an official address to the press, so as not to offend residents of any of the country’s provinces, the organizers ask to call them “the Dutch team”). The Orange have good reason to expect success: most of the players are at the prime football age and have reached the optimal combination of experience and energy. The Dutch ensemble has excellent mutual understanding - the composition of the national team has remained stable for several years now. This is also facilitated by the fact that more than half of the players - natives of Ajax - were brought up on the concept of football developed by the most famous club in the country, where the tactics of playing with three forwards remain unchanged. The team, which was one step away from the World Championship final two years ago, does not need fundamental design changes, but only fine-tuning. As for motivation, it is difficult to imagine anything more effective than the desire to show off in front of your audience. The Dutch should not be weaker than in France, which means they really are the favorites. Not to mention the fact that the team playing at home is, as usual, always among the main contenders for the trophy. But for some reason you doubt it. Perhaps because the statistics of the European championships show that the hosts are not very lucky. Only the excellent team led by Michel Platini in France 84 used the advantage of their home walls to the end. There are no more recent examples.

Or maybe doubts arise because now, more than ever, there is a wide range of teams for which EURO 2000 could become their finest hour. The familiar giants of European football, the Italians and Germans, are trying to outshine the British and Spanish, who have not achieved success for a long time, and the national teams of Portugal, Norway and the Czech Republic are full of ambition. That is, at least half of the participants (including, naturally, the French world champions) have grounds to claim, if not the title, then medals.

Who's new?
When you carefully study the entry lists, you notice that many teams have “aged”. As already mentioned, the composition of the Dutch has not undergone major changes compared to the last World Cup. In the ranks of the French there are 18 triumphants of 1998. There are new faces in the German national team, but they are all mostly experienced football players, and the main figure is still the 39-year-old patriarch Lothar Matthäus. In fact, a similar craving for “gerontocracy” is noticeable in all teams.

But still, there is reason to think that new stars will add unexpected touches to the overall picture of the struggle at the championship, and only in the next century will they shine on the football horizon in full force. Those who will be discussed have already managed to “light up” at the highest level. Thanks to their impressive performances in European cups and national championships, their names were heard throughout the past season. But at the national team level, they are all debutants.

For example, the black Rosenborg striker John Carew, at the age of twenty, has already set a transfer record, becoming the most expensive Norwegian football player. For Carew to start the next season with Valencia, the Spanish club paid $8.5 million - this is how the forward's five goals against their Champions League opponents are valued. A tall, awkward at first glance, but in fact flexible, amazingly coordinated striker not only performs his direct duties well, but is also quite skilled in combination play. The recent friendly match with the Italians, which ended in a victory for the northerners - 1:0, made us assume that the newcomer would be able to find himself even in the company of more experienced partners. Perhaps this match was his ticket to the main team - Carew scored the only goal. The likelihood of a pair of forwards, Carew and Flu, appearing on the field is also high because on the eve of the championship, there were problems in the Norwegian attack due to injuries to Iversen and Solskjaer.

Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard has gone from the club's bench to England international in one season. First by the will of circumstances, replacing the injured Hamann and Redknapp, then by right. He ended up having a great year at Anfield Road. Unyielding in the fight, with excellent speed and outstanding technique, Gerrard is a multifunctional player. On occasion he can score. His appearance in the squad in the key test match against Ukraine appears to indicate that head coach Kevin Keegan is seriously counting on his right-half, who was barely twenty on the eve of EURO 2000.

Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas celebrated his nineteenth birthday at the end of May. And a few days later he became the youngest goalkeeper to win the European Cup with his team. Other characteristics are probably not required. Until now, the coaches of the Spanish national team preferred to see the experienced Molina or Canizares in goal, but the recent junior is no longer used to competing with seasoned goalkeepers. After all, he managed to oust the titled German Bodo Illgner from Real Madrid.

The young talent of the Czech national team, 19-year-old Prague resident Tomas Rosicky, just this season literally burst into the ranks of the leaders of Czech football and scored a bunch of goals against Sparta’s rivals in the national championship and (unfortunately, we know this well) the Champions League. A player with a very young face was not childishly leading the defenders of Bordeaux and Spartak, Berlin Hertha and Portuguese Porto by the nose. Club President Vlastimil Kostal recently stated that Rosa is worth at least $30 million! This, of course, is an exaggeration, the price was announced with a large “margin”, but if Tomas continues his career in the same way as he began, fame on a European scale and corresponding contracts are guaranteed to him. The European Championship is a great opportunity for Rosicky to show himself. It would seem that Patrick Berger is out of competition on the left edge of the national team's midfield. But in the first two matches - against Holland and France - he will not play due to disqualification. It is likely that Rosicky will take his place. And if he can prove himself in games with his main rivals, his reputation is guaranteed.

Forward of the Yugoslav national team and Partizan Belgrade Matej Kezman is also well known to Russian fans. He was the only one who managed to score against Spartak in a Champions League qualifying match last summer and made such an impression that the Muscovites seriously intended to acquire the talented striker. Later it turned out that Spartak could not afford to pay the real market price for him. There were rumors about a possible transfer of Kezman to Lazio for $7 million. For now he is playing in his homeland, but if the unpredictable Yugoslav team performs successfully at EURO 2000, he will obviously not stay there.

Will any of the recent teenagers be able to create the same sensation at the championship that accompanied Michael Owen's debut at the 1998 World Cup? Will they perform the leading part in the team activities of their teams? There are prerequisites for this. But the determining factor for success will probably still be the skill and, most importantly, the composure of experienced fighters. It’s not for nothing that the compositions are getting old.

With the participation of Yaroslav Shimov, Prague